15 staggering facts about Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has been front and center over the past few months as oil prices plunged in late 2014 and then saw a mild recovery in 2015.

But it's worth taking a step back and looking at its unique economy as a whole and what that might mean for its future.

"The oil boom of the past decade has transformed Saudi Arabia into a major global economy with a young population and large wealth that offer great potential," writes HSBC economist Razan Nasser, "but with lower oil prices, the Kingdom's structural challenges are ever more pressing."

We've taken a closer look at some of the numbers behind Saudi Arabia young, oil-driven economy.

Saudi Arabia's population is slightly bigger than Texas's, but Texas's GDP is nearly 2 times as large.

Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from CIA World Factbook and US Census Bureau

Saudi Arabia's population around 28.8 million in 2013, which is slightly above to that of Texas' 26.5 million. However, Saudi Arabia's GDP in 2013 was around $750 billion, while Texas' was approximately twice that amount at $1.4 trillion.

Plus, Saudi Arabia has the 19th largest GDP — but if Texas were its own country, it would have the 13th largest GDP (just below Australia and right above Spain).

Overall, this suggests that Texas is more productive than Saudi Arabia.

The expected cost of the Kingdom Tower's construction is 19.2 times the amount Taylor Swift made last year.

47% of the Kingdom's population is under the age of 24, while only 5% are over 60.

A man holds an Uromastyx lizard.Reuters/Mohamed Al Hwaity

Saudi Arabia's young demographic really stands out against the backdrop of major economies with aging populations such as Japan.

"Saudi Arabia's young and growing population has hard-wired strong consumption growth in the Kingdom for decades to come," writes HSBC's Nasser. "However, in the long term, meeting the demands of this growing population will become more of a challenge."

When one person asked him if Saudi Arabia might become a major, competitive economy by 2010, Gates responded, "Well, if you're not fully utilizing half the talent in the country, you're not going to get close to the top."

On a related note, this is the only country where women are forbidden to drive.

Reuters/Mohamed Al Hwaity

Women aren't allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.

"The conservative Islamic state has no written ban on women driving, but Saudi law requires citizens to use a locally issued license while in the country. Such licenses are not issued to women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive," according to Reuters.

Saudi Arabia may end executions by beheading because there's a shortage of swordsmen in the country.

Reuters/Fayez Nureldine/Pool

"This solution seems practical, especially in light of shortages in official swordsmen or their belated arrival to execution yards in some incidents; the aim is to avoid interruption of the regularly-taken security arrangements," said a Saudi committee made up of representatives of the ministries of interior, justice, and health.

"The boom in oil prices over the past decade has brought with it large fiscal revenue growth that has allowed for a massive ramp-up in expenditure providing little incentive for fiscal discipline," writes Nasser. "This has been very expensive and has not always been directed effectively... often providing for inefficient consumption."

"Such spending habits, along with the inability to generate non-oil revenue, have led to higher dependency on oil. Hence, the drop in oil prices has had a transformative impact on Saudi Arabia's as well as the entire GCC..." he adds.

Consequently, Saudi Arabia's had to tap into its resources following the price drop, which has been an okay strategy so far...

Source: HSBC

Saudi Arabia's annual military expenditure is 4 times the GDP of Afghanistan.

Saudi special forces.Hassan Ammar/AP

Saudi Arabia's military expenditure increased to $80.8 billion in 2014 up from 2013's $67 billion, which puts them in fourth place for military expenditure, behind the US, China, and Russia.

However, it's notable that Saudi Arabia's military expenditure is 10.4% of its GDP — which is huge. Most countries are around 2-4%, with the US around 3.5%.